Only The Goode Spy Forever

Chapter 78: The Last Good Day

"Tears are prayers too. They travel to God when we can not speak." -Psalm 56:8)

  Annalise soon realized that reminisce meant that the parents would crowd her suite. Anna's aunt Morgan had joined and dragged a sad looking Bree with her.
  "I brought scrap books!" Liz called with a laugh. She opened the front page.
  "Were we ever that small?" Cammie asked shaking her head at the picture. In the picture Liz, Bex, and Cammie were all wearing tank tops with their arms slung around each other. They were smiling at the camera. "That was the day we moved into our suite. We were just 7th graders."
  Macey flipped through the pages and pointed to the picture of her with the girls. "And that's when we all became friends. Oh look at Cammie! Look at her love sick puppy dog look in this picture. She was so obsessed with Josh!" Macey started laughing and the rest of the girls did the same. Zach frowned.
  "Oh Cammie look! It's you and Zach at the academy ball!" Liz cried. They smiled at the picture of Cammie in a red, strapless dress clutching onto Zach's arm.
  "That looks exactly like Chase," Bree whispered. The group turned to her. She had been quiet all night. Chase looked at her with a tender look in his eyes.
  "What's wrong with them?" Bex asked Cammie. "I thought they were supposed to be lovebirds." Chase looked to the ground and Bree blushed. Anna cocked an eyebrow at them. She wondered if Bree's behavior had anything to do with Chase.
  "Oh Cammie you looked beautiful," Diana said changing the subject. She pointed to an engagement photo. Cammie was in a royal blue dress and Zach was in a white top and dipping her. Cammie's eyes were a beautiful shade of blue.
  "That was one of our engagement photos," Cammie said, beaming at the picture. "Oh Bex, look at this one. You were pregnant with the twins." Bex grinned at the picture. She had a pregnancy glow and was beaming. Cammie had her hand on Bex's large bump and was laughing.
  "Did you girls know that Cammie and Zach were your first ever babysitters? I'm pretty sure that that's why they decided to have Chase. They just loved you too much," Bex said to her daughters.
  "Our first babysitters were the CIA's top agents?" Amelia asked in amazement.
  "Wicked," Adalind said with an evil glint in her eyes.
  "And your first ever play date was with big guy over there," Bex said pointing to Chase. "He was just a little baby back then. Harmlees."
"I can't imagine Mr. Cocky without all that muscle," Amelia said as she gripped Chase's arm. He grinned playfully. Bree looked like she was going to be sick.
"Look at this picture, you can see little newborn Chase," Macey laughed. Anna smiled at the picture. Her mother looked incredibly tired as she smiled and held a little bundle in her arms. Anna's father sat next to her and grinned happily.
"There aren't any naked pictures of me as a kid in here, are there?" Chase asked, nervously shifting his eyes to Bree. Cammie laughed.
"No, but you're hardly wearing a shirt in any picture. Neither does your dad, you got it from him," Cammie said with a playful elbow to Zach.
A knock erupted at the door and Joe Solomon burst in. "They found him," he said. The parents all looked to each other with wide eyes. Anna realized that their parents weren't here for a fun get together. They were here to distract the kids.
"Where was he?" Macey asked. Solomon held a somber look. He avoided looking at Bree.
"Face down in a pond outside his house. He's gone," Solomon said. Cammie jumped up. She made her way next to Bree.
"Bree," Zach started slowly.
"What?" She said loudly. Terror was crossing over her face. She looked panicked. "What happened?"
"Honey," Cammie started. She put a hand on Bree's shoulder. "I'm so sorry."
"What happened?" Bree asked as her voice cracked.
"Ms. Morrison," Townsend said as he entered the room. "Catherine had been making threats. She desperately wants you. Zachary thought that it would be a good idea to check in with your family. It seems that she carried through on a threat. There's no easy way to say this. Your grandfather is dead."
"What?" Bree shrieked. She started gasping for air. "I can't- how did? I can't breathe!"
"Bree!" Chase shouted. He jumped up and ran to Bree. He wrapped his arms around her to keep her from passing out. Bree started banging her fists in to Chase's chest. It had to have hurt, Anna knew that much. Chase took every hit and held her strongly.
"What happened?" Anna screamed. Tears were running down her face. She was crying out in pain. "What happened?" Anna turned away. She wished she was deaf. Bree's cries of agony were almost too much to bear.
"Ms. Morrison, composure," Ed scolded. Anna's mouth dropped. Anna's Papa Ed was angry that she wasn't keeping her composure. Anna thought he should cut her some slack. Bree's best friend had just died, after all.
"Shut up!" Chase snapped at him.
"Now listen here," Ed began, shaking his finger at Chase.
"Seriously, shut up!" Zach told his father. Townsend huffed and looked offended, but he backed down.
"It's going to be okay," Chase said softly to a bawling Bree. She was in hysterics. Anna had never seen anyone cry so hard. She had never heard such a painful cry.
"I should have been there!" Bree screamed. Anna noticed her stare into Chase's eyes. The pain on her face had made Anna's roommates cry. Anna noticed Chase tear up as she looked at him. "I never got to say goodbye."
"Out of the room," Morgan called to the group. She ushered the kids out of the room. Adalind and Amelia protested, but followed. "Chase, you too."
"I'm not leaving her!" He cried. He still had his armed wrapped tightly around her. He began murmuring something into her ear. He smoothed her hair over and over.
Anna watched her parents comfort Bree as the door got slammed in her face.
"Why would they do that?" Diana asked. She had tears rolling down her face. "They knew he was going to be found dead. They were distracting us while I bet the whole Task Force was at Bree's home tearing it apart.
"It doesn't matter anymore," Amelia whispered. Adalind nodded.
"They broke Bree," Adalind said softly. Caroline agreed.
"What now?" Caroline asked. "What will she do now?"
"She'll mourn," Diana said with a sigh. "And we'll be there for her. I hope Chase can give her hope."
Anna shook her head. "Didn't you see the pain in her eyes? Bree has no hope. Yesterday was her last good day. Her day living in the unknown. A day of bliss. Her whole world just came crashing down. I used to think that Chase's love would be too much for her. Now I can only pray that it will be enough."